1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a container holder for accommodating or holding containers therein, containers which contain beverages.
2. Description of the Related Art
A container holder is an apparatus, which has an accommodation space for accommodating or holding containers, such as cans, plastic bottles and cups, therein, containers which hold beverages. As disclosed in Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication (KOKAI) No. 2005-329824, Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication (KOKAI) No. 2006-130968 and Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication (KOKAI) No. 2003-182438, for instance, conventional container holders have been known. Such a conventional container holder comprises a holder body, and a supporting member. The holder body demarcates at least a part of the accommodation space. The supporting member enlarges and diminishes the accommodation space diametrically.
Usually, in this type of conventional container holders, the supporting member is disposed swingably or slidably to the holder body, and at least a part of the supporting member comes in and comes out of the accommodation space, thereby enlarging and diminishing the accommodation space diametrically. Specifically, when the supporting member comes inward into the accommodation space, the inside diameter of the accommodation space reduces to the extent that the supporting member comes inward thereinto. In this instance, the conventional container holder can therefore stably accommodate or hold a container with a small outside diameter. On the other hand, when the supporting member comes outward out of the accommodation space, the inside diameter of the accommodation space increases. In this instance, the conventional container holder can therefore stably accommodate or hold a container with a large outside diameter. Thus, this type of conventional container holders can stably accommodate or hold containers with various shapes therein.
Note, however, that it has been a usual engineering practice to provide this type of conventional container holders with actuating means for moving the supporting member. For example, in the conventional container holder disclosed in Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication (KOKAI) No. 2005-329824, an electric motor, the actuating means, is used to move the supporting member, or swing it specifically. However, the conventional container holder has been associated with the problem that the manufacturing costs have gone up, because electric motors are expensive.